The suspense over the project grew manifold with the Kerala Government serving a 15-day ultimatum to the Tecom, the Dubai-based company which has been entrusted with the implementation of the Smart City project.

The Government dashed off a letter to Tecom on the first of September asking it to start work on the project by September 15. If the Tecom does not do so, the Government will consider that the company has withdrawn from the project and will look for other options to implement the project, which is expected to put Kerala firmly on the Information-Technology map.

Opinion is divided on what the Tecom's reaction will be. One stream of thought believes that the company will take the matter to court as it is on a firm legal wicket.

The bone of contention has been the Tecom's insistence on getting freehold with right for sale of 12 per cent of the total 246 acres of land on which the project is supposed to come up. Tecom says the original framework agreement which it signed with the Kerala Government three years ago has a clause which indirectly gives it freehold on the 12 per cent land with right for sale.

The Kerala Government has firmly rejected Tecom's contention. It says the land on which the project will come up comes under Special Economic Zone (SEZ). And that Indian laws do not permit grant of freehold with right for sale on land which comes under SEZ. The government took this stand after seeking the legal opinion of the Attorney General and other luminaries like former Law Minister Shanti Bhushan.

However, there is another section which says that Tecom will not withdraw from the project as doing so will affect its reputation, which the company reeling under the economic slowdown cannot afford at this point of time. If Tecom takes the legal option, the result will be a prolonged legal battle. Such a denouement will delay start on the Smart City project. It will also give a handle to the Congress-led opposition which has accused the LDF government of badly bungling the entire issue.

The death of the project will also dash the hopes of thousands of youth who are eagerly looking forward to the project seeing the light of the day. (IPA Service)